Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Devils Never Cry
by MHProductions
Summary: After Vergil's death on Mallet Island, he finds that he's been reincarnated as a Squirtle on a quest for redemption. His guide wants to help mend his relationship with Dante. There is a problem, however: Dante has amnesia. Can Vergil figure out where his loyalties truly lie? How much does his guide truly know? Who are his pursuers? Where, and who, is he, exactly?
1. I welcome you to the world of Pokémon

**Chapter 1: "I welcome you to the world of Pokémon."**

Being blind and being in pain at the same time is not a pleasant combination. If you're blind, you can't see what's causing your pain, and you can't see the severity of your wounds. Sometimes, your wounds are worse than they feel.  
Vergil was no stranger to pain. He'd known it, and sometimes even embraced it. Pain was what made him even stronger, as he desired. However, being blind was a different story. To him, blindness was ignorance, and thus a weakness. He had no knowledge of his surroundings, and thus was ignorant of them. His pain was more defined. It was as if he'd been cut multiple times over. _  
Probably because you were, Vergil._ He reminded himself. He'd fallen into the Demon Realm, and made sure he was the only one there. He'd challenged Mundus, but was quickly defeated. He'd become Nelo Angelo, a demon hell-bent on killing Dante...  
His thoughts were interrupted by a feeling of weight pushing down on him. The pain he'd been feeling intensified, the weight making it harder to breathe. He felt as though he were being crushed by some invisible force. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. His breaths became shallow and quick.  
Then, all at once, it stopped. Even his wounds felt as though they were healed. But sometimes, one can't tell for sure...  
"Greetings, Vergil." a voice said. "I welcome you to the world of Pokémon."  
"Pokémon?" Vergil asked.  
"Yes." the voice replied. "Pokémon are creatures with amazing powers."  
"Powers? What kind of powers?"  
"Powers as in, say, pyrokinesis, or regenerative properties."  
"So, like demons?" Vergil asked.  
"Oh my, no! The only way any Pokémon would be similar to a demon is if they were to use their powers for evil."  
Vergil suddenly realized the full extent this conversation would have.  
"Okay, can you tell me who you are? Why am I here?"  
"Unfortunately, I cannot reveal my identity, as it would put us all in harm's way. I cannot risk you telling anyone. However, I will tell you that you have been brought to this world for a very specific reason. I want to help you mend your relationship with Dante."  
"So, you're saying-"  
"I'm saying I want to help you earn your redemption." the voice said impatiently.  
"'Redemption?'" Vergil scoffed. "I don't need 'redemption.' I just need more power..."  
"And tell me, what are you going to do with all that power? What do you hope to achieve?"  
He remained silent. The voice sighed.  
"I can feel it in you, Vergil. You love your brother. Why do you hesitate to embrace that?"  
There was a brief pause.  
"Anyway," the voice said, "you should be able to adjust to your new body when you get into the world."  
"New body? What?!"  
"Also, keep in mind that Dante will have amnesia. This is a side effect of transferring his being into another body."  
"Wait, what?! This 'new body' again?! And why amnesia?!"  
"Good luck!"  
"No, really, what the Hell-"  
He was cut off by a sudden, blinding light enveloping his vision, and then felt as though he was falling.


	2. Hey! Would you calm down!

**Chapter 2: "Hey! Would you calm down?!"**

Vergil had realized that he was falling before he actually saw it with his own eyes. Birds flew by as he plummeted, and he swore one of them gave him a dirty look. He decided to just take it, having survived much worse than a fall and a dirty look. He looked down, seeing that he was catapulting towards a body of water and braced himself for splashdown.  
When he did hit the water, he didn't feel any form of pain, like he'd expected. In fact, he felt oddly refreshed. He found that he could still breathe when submerged.  
 _Well, that's one less thing to worry about with this "new body", I guess._  
Vergil was still unsure what that voice meant by that, but it may have something to do with those creatures he'd heard of before. "Pokémon," as that voice had called them. He surfaced, and found himself listening in on a conversation.  
"Hey! Would you calm down?!"  
"What's wrong, Charmander? Worried that I'll blast you again?"  
"No! It's not that!"  
 _What's going on over there?_  
Then he thought of something. _  
It's rather unlikely, but maybe they know where Dante is!  
And why, exactly, is Dante your first priority? _He asked himself. _You know what you really want, Vergil: more power._  
"Either way, no matter what path you choose to take, it's your choice on whether or not you take that first step." Vergil reasoned with himself.  
That did it. He decided to seek out the voices, possibly belonging to these Pokémon the voice seemed to be affiliated with. When he swam up to the spot, he found a blue crocodile-like creature and an orange lizard-creature with a flame at the end of its tail were apparently having a more pleasant conversation than their bickering before.  
He sighed. He knew that this wasn't as important as what he really wanted. For all he knew, this could be a trap.  
 _It's a start, though._ He decided.  
"Excuse me," he said, "but you, by chance, haven't seen anyone who goes by the name Dante around here, have you?"


	3. What's that?

**Chapter 3: "What's that?"**

The crocodile and lizard exchanged confused glances before returning to Vergil.  
"No, I don't think so..." the crocodile said. "You're looking for this 'Dante,' right?"  
"Yes."  
"Off topic," the lizard cut in, "what's your name?"  
"Vergil. I'm assuming you'd want to know in case you find him."  
"Yes." the lizard replied, before adding, "I'm Charmander, by the way."  
"I'm Hayden." the crocodile said. He then turned to look at his companion. She yawned, laying down lazily on a rock. She closed her eyes, seemingly enjoying her place in a patch of sunlight.  
"Well," Hayden said as he got out of the water. "I guess we'll get going now. We'll let you know if we find anything."  
"Would you, by chance, happen to know what Dante looks like? We need something to go by." Charmander said as she reluctantly rolled off of her rock. Vergil hesitated.  
"Well..." he said with a sigh. "I was sent here with only the knowledge of his name, and not his appearance."  
There was silence. Eventually, Hayden spoke up.  
"Well, that's a problem, then..."  
He looked over to the lake, noticing something orange in the water.  
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the orange thing. Vergil looked in that direction and swam over to it. He lifted it up and slung it over his shoulder.  
"You know, Hayden, this would be a lot easier if you were over here!" He commented, swimming back to the edge of the lake. He placed the orange thing on the ground, getting a clear look at it.  
 _Some kind of bird._ He thought. _It needs attention, though..._  
"A Torchic..." Charmander said.  
"Hayden, do you know where we could find a shelter for it?"  
"There's a place not too far from here. Mackenzie will know what to do when we get there."  
"Mackenzie?"  
"I'll explain when we get there!" Hayden said before running down a pathway. "Let's go!"  
With the Torchic in tow, Vergil and Charmander ran after Hayden. As they ran, a thought suddenly occurred to him.  
 _What if this is Dante?_


	4. It fell from the sky!

**Chapter 4: "It fell from the sky!"**

Hayden skidded to a halt outside of a yellow hut with an orange roof.  
"Mackenzie! Are you in there?" he called out. Vergil heard grumbling and rustling from inside the hut, before a yellow mouse-like creature stumbled out.  
"What do you want?" asked the mouse with a yawn. She looked at Charmander, and noticed Vergil's presence.  
"Who would this be?"  
"My name is Vergil." he replied. He set the orange creature down in front of Mackenzie.  
"Who's the Torchic?"  
"We don't know. That's what we came to you for." Charmander said, absentmindedly rubbing a large scar across her stomach. Vergil had never truly gotten a good look at it, but now he couldn't help but wonder how she got it.  
"Anyway, she's half drowned. We'll get her inside, then see what we can do."  
 _She? So it's not Dante, then... Are genders more obvious because she knows some kind of sign that I don't?_  
He then realized what he just said.  
 _... Some things shouldn't be known._ He decided. He followed the rest of the group inside.  
In there, he found Mackenzie and another lizard that looked exactly like Charmander gathered around a small bed placed against a wall. For a moment, Vergil was about to question why this lizard resembled Charmander, until he remembered the birds he saw before. If those birds could look exactly the same, then two lizards probably could, too.  
"Charmander," Mackenzie said, apparently indicating the creature next to her. "I need you to fetch me some Oran Berries, and maybe some Red Gummis. We need to help her keep her strength up."  
Charmander nodded, before exiting the hut.  
 _So its name is Charmander, too?_  
He thought about this for a moment. _  
Maybe Charmander is a common name here. Red Gummis and Oran Berries? Some kind of food would be my best guess._  
"Hayden?" Vergil asked, without fully realizing what it was he was saying.  
"Yeah?"  
"How do you not get those two confused? I mean, you could tell them apart if you looked at them, but what if you had to call them by name?"  
"Well, that's one of the reasons why Mackenzie and I don't do missions together. It'd get too confusing, and that's the last thing you need on a rescue team!"  
 _Rescue team..._  
"Y'know, I've heard of places where all Pokémon are given different names to help distinguish them from others." Charmander continued. "We don't do that here, and it shows!"  
"Hayden! Charmander!" a voice interrupted Vergil's discussion. A small green caterpillar crawled over to them.  
"Hey, Caterpie, what's up?" Charmander asked. Caterpie was breathless, possibly from moving so fast.  
"I just saw something! It fell from the sky!"  
"Fell from the sky?" Hayden asked.  
"Yeah! I didn't get a good look at it, though. I wanted to check it out, but Mommy told me I couldn't unless someone came with me, so I was hoping you'd do it!"  
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Charmander said, immediately perking up at the idea of a job to do.  
"Where is it?" Hayden asked.  
"I think it landed over in Tiny Woods." Caterpie replied. Vergil found himself strangely curious.  
"Hayden, Charmander?"  
"Yeah, Vergil?"  
"Is it all right if..."  
 _What are you doing, Vergil?!  
Trying to gain more knowledge of the world I'm in, thank you very much!_  
"Is it all right if I come along with you? I'd like to see how a rescue team functions..."  
"Of course you can come along!" Charmander said. "We could use more teammates anyway!"  
 _You think I want to join you? Well, I guess I can see where that idea came from._  
"Team Catface, away!" Hayden said, following the direction Caterpie ran.  
"Why did I let him choose the name for this team, again?" Charmander grumbled before she followed him. Vergil simply rolled his eyes, heading along himself.


	5. Do you remember me?

**Chapter 5: "Do you remember me?"**

"Okay, so we know that what you saw landed somewhere around Tiny Woods. Anything else?"  
"Well, like I said before, I didn't get a good look at it. I think it landed in the same fissure I did, but I'm not sure."  
"Why don't we look there, then?" Charmander suggested, pointing to a crevice in the ground. Hayden nodded, open to anything at this point. The group descended carefully into the crevice, making sure that Caterpie was safe and didn't drop the bag Hayden had given him.  
"Vergil, this is a mystery dungeon." He explained as they descended further. "It changes every time you enter it. No one knows why, but that's how it works."  
"Whenever you go into one," Charmander continued, "you need to keep an eye out for the stairs. That's how you advance through the dungeon."  
 _As soon as I learn everything, I can continue to gain more power.  
Oh, Vergil, it's always the same with you. Just "power, power, I need power! Waah!" Have you ever considered the possibility that the only way you can return home is by following what the voice has to say?_  
He paused.  
"Mister Vergil?" Caterpie's voice cut into his thoughts. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah." He lied. "Let's keep going."  
x-x-x  
They'd finally reached the end of the dungeon, but there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Just as they were about to give up, Vergil saw what appeared to be an unconscious Charmander lying on the ground. He approached it carefully, just in case it was feigning to get an advantage. When he'd made sure it was really out cold, he shook its shoulder.  
"Hey, are you okay?"  
"Ugh..." The Charmander groaned. It rose to its feet, only to stumble over again. "Where... am I?"  
"You're in Tiny Woods." Caterpie said.  
"What happened to you?" Charmander asked.  
"I... I honestly can't remember... All I can remember is my name..."  
"And that name would be...?"  
"Dante..."  
Hayden and Charmander exchanged shocked glances before returning to Dante. A thought suddenly occurred to Vergil.  
 _What if the voice was wrong? What if he does remember me?_  
"Dante..." Vergil cleared his throat. "My name is Vergil."  
"... Vergil?"  
"Do you remember me?"  
Dante appeared to ponder this. "... Doesn't ring a bell... But... I think I do remember something else..."  
"What is it?" Hayden asked.  
"Animals shouldn't be able to talk. What makes you able to?"  
"What do you mean?" Caterpie asked.  
"Animals can't talk to humans."  
"Humans? You're a Charmander!" Hayden said.  
"Well, even if I am, whatever that is, I was human before..."  
Hayden and Charmander looked even more shocked, now.  
"Just like you, Hayden... Just like Mackenzie..."  
 _Hayden and Mackenzie are former humans too?!_  
"Vergil!" Hayden's voice snapped him back into reality. "We're leaving!"  
"How? We can't climb out of here, can we?"  
"We don't need to! We can use our Rescue Team Badge!" Hayden replied, reaching into the bag he'd given to Caterpie earlier. He pulled out a badge that was pink on the bottom half and white on the top, with wings on the sides. The badge began to glow with a yellow light, and before he knew it, they were all in front of a notice board.  
"Where are we?" Dante asked.  
"The Pelipper Post Office." Hayden replied. "Rescue teams can come here to find missions."  
"Rescue teams? So, going by the name, you help others out?"  
"We can do more than just that! We can hunt down outlaws, find items for other Pokémon, and help them explore dungeons!" Charmander replied.  
"Well, now I want to join a rescue team! It sounds like it'd be a good experience!" Dante said.  
 _Dante seems awfully enthusiastic about this. Maybe we could team up and start our own team!  
That's ridiculous! Why, after all those years, would you team up with Dante?  
Before you answer that, Vergil, think back. Back before even Temen-ni-gru._  
After thinking long and hard about it, he finally came to a conclusion.  
"Is it possible for Dante and I to start our own team? I think I could help him regain his memories. We have some history together, so I think I should stay with him."


	6. My name's Claire

**Chapter 6: "My name's Claire."**

After having Charmander give them the directions on what to do, she left them to decide who should be the team's leader.  
"You know more about this place than I do, Vergil. If you were the leader, you could help me with exploring dungeons."  
"I can still do that from a supporting role. If you take the lead, it'd give you more experience. Plus, it could give you your memories back."  
"How would you know?"  
"Just a hunch." he replied, looking at the building. "Let's get going."  
They walked in to find that a few birds resembling pelicans were roosting inside the office.  
"Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to know how we can sign up to become a rescue team, would you?"  
"Over here."  
They duo turned their attention to a particular Pelipper sitting behind the counter. He handed them a clipboard with a paper on it.  
"Just put your names on this paper, your team name, and fill out the location so that the Pokémon Rescue Organization will know where your team is located."  
"Pokémon Rescue Organization?" Dante asked.  
"Yes. They operate to assist rescue teams. They're the ones that help keep track of missions for them, and they produce team badges, orbs, scarves, and other merchandise."  
Vergil clicked the pen, ejecting the point. He wrote down his name on the designated line before handing the clipboard and pen to Dante. He wrote his name down, but then hesitated.  
"We haven't really thought of a team name, have we?"  
Before he could answer, a voice called out to him.  
"Vergil..."  
He turned around to find a Pikachu standing there, her body scratched and her fur charred. Her breathing was heavy, as if she had just barely gotten out of a fight.  
"Mackenzie? What happened?"  
"Torchic's awake..." she replied, leaning against the doorway. Vergil turned back to Pelipper.  
"Can you hold on to this for us?"  
"Of course!" He said, grabbing the clipboard with his beak. "Just come back... 'Dante' and 'Vergil?' Oh my Mew those are weird names..."  
Vergil decided to let go of the fact that he had butchered the pronunciation of their names, as Pokémon probably weren't used to human names. He ran over to Mackenzie's hut, Dante following.  
x-x-x  
Dante and Vergil came to a halt outside the yellow hut.  
"Stay here. It'll probably be easier if she doesn't feel like she's being ambushed."  
"Okay..." he said.  
Vergil was about to run in, but decided to walk instead for fear of alarming her.  
"Hello?" he called out as he stepped in.  
"Get away from me!" the female shouted in reply, launching tiny orange embers from her beak at him. She flinched, as if surprised by her own power. Surprisingly, the embers didn't hurt him very much.  
"Hey, hey, relax." he said, his voice surprisingly soft. "I'm not going to hurt you, Miss Torchic."  
"Torchic? Again?! What the Hell are you talking about?! How are you talking if you're a turtle?!"  
 _A turtle? Hmm..._  
He decided to ignore it for a while, focusing on the Torchic.  
"So you're not named Torchic, then?"  
"No!" She snapped, before trying to calm down. "My name's Claire. Claire Redfield."  
"Claire Redfield? Sounds like a human name. You wouldn't happen to be human, would you?"  
Claire flinched again.  
"... Yes. How would you know that?"  
"Because I was a human, too."  
Claire gasped. "You're just like me, then! But... why are you here?"  
"I was sent here with the knowledge that my brother was here. This voice told me he had amnesia. I'm supposed to 'redeem' myself, but..."  
"But what?"  
"Dante-"  
He caught himself.  
"My brother and I haven't been on the best of terms since something happened in our childhoods. I thought his amnesia would help, but then... what if he remembers how much we hated each other all those years?"  
"Well... it must've been pretty bad if you couldn't stand each other, Mister..."  
"Vergil. It was pretty bad."  
He went quiet, before speaking up again.  
"What about you? What's your story?"  
"... Well... I remember that a virus was released. My older brother and I were sent to deal with it. But then..."  
"Then what?"  
Her eyes welled up with tears. "The virus took me... Chris, that's my older brother, had to kill me in order to stop me from killing him... I woke up here, surrounded by weird talking animals. You can probably guess what happened from there..."  
"Oh..."  
"All I know is that Chris is still around here somewhere. That's what I was told, anyway... So I guess I'm similar to you, in a way..."  
"Well..." Vergil replied. "I guess I know what it feels like to be worried about a sibling. I remember, before that... thing... happened, Dante and my mother went out somewhere. I know now that they just went to the store, but six-year-old me just couldn't understand that. I remember how relieved I was when they came back."  
Claire appeared to ponder this. "Tell me, Vergil, what's this 'thing' you keep referring to?"  
"Our mother... was killed by demons, starting a major schism between Dante and me. I chose to follow in my father's footsteps, embrace my demonic heritage. Dante, on the other hand..."  
"If you ask me, I think he's lucky to have amnesia. He doesn't have to remember what happened to your mother, and how you two couldn't come to terms after that. It's not like me... I have to remember the pain of dying, how utterly devastated Chris was that I was dead... I have to remember it all..."  
She went quiet. Tears welled up in her eyes again.  
"Miss Redfield... I can see that you clearly love Chris, but-"  
"I don't want to remember all the pain! I just want to forget it all!" Claire wailed. Vergil was visibly taken aback.  
"You still want to remember Chris, don't you?"  
At this, Claire went quiet once again.  
"Vergil?" she finally asked after a while  
"Yeah?"  
"Please don't tell anyone... I don't want them to think of me as a freak..." She trailed off.  
"I promise." He replied.  
x-x-x  
In the meantime, Dante was sitting outside, staring at the setting sun's reflection on the calm lake water. Charmander was laying down on her rock, seemingly asleep. He knew she wasn't, but didn't want to disturb her. She yawned, changing her position so her belly was exposed, revealing a large scar running diagonally down it.  
"Charmander?"  
"Yeah?"  
"How did you get that scar?"  
"I got into a fight with a Zangoose."  
"Zangoose?"  
She thought about it for a bit.  
"Oh, that's right. You're not native here. A Zangoose is a kind of mongoose-like creature. It's known for it's rivalry with Seviper, a snake."  
"Oh. So, you fought one. You lost?"  
"Nope." She said, looking at the lake. They sat in comfortable silence, before Dante spoke up again.  
"Charmander? Why do you like to look at this lake so much? I know it's beautiful, but you seem to take quite an interest in it."  
"I think it's because it puts me at ease. I'm curious as to what Water-Type Pokémon do in there. Unfortunately, I can't go in. It'd literally kill me. The only part of me that can go into the water without getting hurt is my muzzle."  
"How would it kill you?" Dante asked.  
"See this flame on my tail?" She replied with a flick of her tail. "Every Charmander has one. If this flame ever goes out, they'll die. And that includes me and you."  
They sat in silence again before Charmander said she had to report back to the team base. Before she left, however, she turned back to him.  
"You don't have a Rescue Team Base, do you?"  
"No."  
"Well, let's find you one, then!"  
And with that, the Charmander duo ran off into the horizon.


	7. Welcome home, Vergil!

**Chapter 7: "Welcome home, Vergil!"**

Dante trotted ahead of Charmander, looking for a place to reside. When Charmander came up to a hut with a nice warmth to it due to the torches around it, she told Dante that she would recommend that place.

"Well, it's good for me, but... I want Vergil to be comfortable in here, too. We're going to share this place, after all..."

"This is the only place for sale, though, Dante." Charmander replied. "Unless you found some way to build your own base, you have to buy it."

"Excuse me," a voice said. "I'd like to make a suggestion."

The duo turned their attention to a blue fish-like creature with star-shaped gills on its cheeks.

"A Mudkip." Charmander concluded.

"My name's Chris." The Mudkip introduced himself. "Chris Redfield. If you're looking for a place where you can build your own base, just follow me."

The two followed him to a small patch of land. There were a few stakes in the ground, apparently the start of the foundation.

"You can move these stakes to make your Base as big or small as you want. Right now, you can just have some basic building, but if you want to renovate, you can just ask me, and I'll call up my group for you." Chris explained.

"Tell me, Chris: Are you some kind of sales-person?"

"Sort of. I was requested by someone who goes by the name Arcanine to advertise and sell this land to anyone willing to buy it. I'm here for something else..."

"What would that be?" Dante asked.

"My little sister, Claire. I know she's out there somewhere. I just don't know where..." He replied. He looked out to the horizon and sighed. "I was told to meet her here. But... is she even in this town?"

x-x-x

"So, did you get anything out of her, Vergil?" Mackenzie asked.

"Yes, but she didn't want me to reveal the information." he replied. The Pikachu sighed.

"Did you at least get her name?"

"Her name's Claire."  
He suddenly realized something.  
"Where's Dante?"  
"Oh, I think he was with Charmander. Hayden's Charmander. They were going to buy a team base."

"Where?"

"... I don't know!"

Vergil groaned loudly, before running over to the lake Charmander seemed to like so much. Surprisingly, she wasn't there. However, he did see tracks belonging to two certain Pokémon.

"Looks like we have to follow these." He said when Mackenzie finally caught up.

Unbeknownst to them both, Claire had followed them, as if to make sure Vergil kept his promise while they were gone.

x-x-x

"Well, I hope Vergil likes it!" Dante said as he, Charmander, and Chris looked over their work. It was a rather large house, but it was quite empty on the inside. The base was divided into two floors so that each brother could sleep in a separate area. Charmander had come up with the idea of putting an extra bed inside on the off chance that someone else had to stay there.

"Looks like we got done just in time!" Chris said as he brushed some dirt off of his dorsal fin. When he heard footsteps in the distance, he decided it was time to go.

"I've left the address so that you can contact Mister Arcanine to renovate for you. I've got to go look for my sister."  
Suddenly rather subdued, he walked away, only to find himself stopped in his tracks when he heard the conversation between Dante and an unknown person.

"Welcome home, Vergil!" Dante said.

"... Looks like Mackenzie was right. Did you two build this place yourselves?" the other asked.

"We had some help..." Dante replied.

"Hey, Chris!" Charmander called. "Why don't you come over here?"

Chris turned around and returned to the foundation. He found a blue turtle staring at the building while a small yellow mouse stood breathlessly beside Charmander. Suddenly, the turtle turned to him.

"So, you're Chris, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes, sir. Chris Redfield."

"Tell me, Mister Redfield, are you related to Claire Redfield?"

Chris flinched and his eyes widened. "You-you know Claire?!"

Dante and Charmander exchanged glances before returning to Chris.

"You did say you were looking for Claire, right?" Charmander asked.

"Chris?" Another voice said. Everyone directed their attention to the source of the voice, finding a Torchic running over to them. She almost collapsed in front of the base, but Vergil managed to steady her.

"Claire!" Chris cried, running over to her. They hugged each other as best as they could, considering Claire's general lack of arms, crying tears of happiness. Vergil and Dante went inside their new home to give the siblings some space.

Inside, Vergil found that the Base was rather comfortable. It was a little large, but he figured that Dante made it that way for improvement space later. It had just gotten dark, so the two decided to turn in for the night.

x-x-x

In his dream, he could only see darkness.

"Vergil..." a voice called to him.

"You... You're that voice I heard before!"

"Yes. You can call me the Guide."

"Tell me, Guide... What am I? What is this 'new body' you refer to?"

"You are a Squirtle, Vergil. Thus, you can harness the power of water."

"Water... Could that explain my ability to breathe underwater?"

"Yes."

"What about Dante? Mackenzie? Claire?"

"Claire and Dante are pyrokinetics. Mackenzie is an Electricity wielder."

"There was something else..." Vergil trailed off. "That's right! Are Mackenzie and Hayden amnesiac humans? Is the amnesia a side-effect?"

"That, I cannot reveal. However, there are some... voluntary amnesiacs. Those who are must discover that for themselves."

"Guide... How can I return home? Can I even return?"

"You must help Dante regain his memories. As for returning, I cannot return you yet. Even if I had the power to, I cannot. You must discover what you truly are."

"What I truly am...? Guide, I do believe I know what I am. I am a human-demon hybrid who's been involuntarily transformed into a turtle."

"No. That's not it. There's something else within. If you can find that, you can be redeemed."

Vergil let out an exasperated sigh.

"Before you go, Vergil, tell me: What do you fear more? Do you fear the inability to gain more power? Or are you more afraid of the loss of loyalty? Really, really think about that, Vergil. Do you fear the loss of power or loyalty?"

 _Oh, come on! You really know what you want, Vergil: Power._

 _Tell me, though, Verge: What's power going to get you in the long run? Sure, you can keep going that way, but how can you prove if you've gotten stronger if you've beaten everyone? What was the reason you chose to follow in your father's footsteps? Do you even remember?_


	8. We're Team Devil May Cry

**Chapter 8: "We're Team Devil May Cry."**

A dark creature overlooked a scene in the forest, a smile playing across its lips. It was watching a group of purple, spiky creatures with gems for eyes wandering through the forest, searching for something.

"If Master Dark was correct, we should find one of them here." one said. "N-Not that I'm doubting Master Dark at all! Th-that's not what I'm trying to imply!" He quickly added.

 _Oh, Shadow. Always a bad liar._ The creature thought. It turned its attention to a black-and-red hound with white horns on its head and white spines on its back.

"Lieutenant Dark." It addressed the hound. "If they can't find what they're looking for, you must find it. Bring it to me."

"Yes, Master." Dark the Houndoom replied, bowing his head. He padded over to the screen his master was watching, and sighed when he saw how incompetent the Sableye were in battle.

"Can't even handle a Mareep. Speaking of which, let's use this Mareep to lure our target to us. We must send reinforcements to contain it."

"Very well." the creature said. After Dark had made his request for the reinforcements he wanted to send, he left.

The creature, now alone, smiled ominously.

 _You won't get away this time, human._

x-x-x

Vergil awoke, wondering what the reason his mind mentioned was. He wanted to go back to sleep, but eventually chose against it. He cracked open his eyes, finding that sunlight was coming through the windows. He got up, albeit with some difficulty due to a thick shell. Still groggy, he stumbled downstairs.

He found it rather strange that there was a small pond outside. He felt as though he should take a dip, but couldn't choose whether or not he should do that or wake Dante up first. Apparently, though, some kind of primal instinct drove him to the water.

When he got in, he suddenly felt rather refreshed. He decided to surface, finding Mackenzie and Charmander standing there.

"Good morning, Mackenzie. Charmander."

"Morning Vergil." The both said simultaneously.

"Hey, is Dante awake?" Mackenzie asked.

"No. I had to wake myself up, first."  
He paused for a moment.  
"Mackenzie? Just out of sheer curiosity, do you recall being human? I never bothered to ask before, but now that I think about it, your name sounds as though it's of human origin."

"Yes. I was human before. However, that and my name are all I can remember. Hayden's like that, too..."

The group went quiet for a little bit. Vergil decided it was time for Dante to get up, so he climbed out of the pond.

"Hey, after you've established your team properly, we could do some missions!" Charmander said cheerfully.

"Why not? It's not like we have anything better to do." he replied, before walking into the base.

"Dante," he said, shaking his shoulder. "Come on, Dante."

 _There was this one trick that always worked on him when we were kids..._

"Last one to breakfast doesn't get any!"

At this, Dante literally jumped out of bed, running around to try and find something to eat.

 _Still works._ Vergil thought with a smile.

"What? Where?" Poor Dante was too confused to realize what had actually happened. He then looked at a now hysterically laughing Vergil. "Not funny!"

"Sorry!" he said in between laughs. "I had to wake you up somehow. Anyway, we need to get our team registered."

"Oh, right! We were going to do that today!"

"I must ask this, though: Do you remember anything now?"

Dante appeared to ponder this. "Well... I believe I remember something... I remember that something happened between me and someone else. Something that we resented each other for afterwards."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"By the way, you seem awfully accepting of what's going on around here. Why?"

"Because, for all I know, I could've known these people previously. I just don't remember them." he said, before they proceeded to go to the Pelipper Post Office.

x-x-x

The six Sneasel chuckled as they tread through the woods, finding their fallen comrades.

"So, she put up quite a fight." One said.

"Yes." Another replied. "Granted, we're pretty weak in this form. If only we could transform here."

"We can!" said a third. "It's just that _someone_ won't let us!" He shot a glare at another Sneasel, who was obviously taken aback.

"Hey, it's not my fault! We need to conserve energy!" One responded incredulously. "You can transform if you want, but don't come crying to me if you aren't able to fight anyone off later!"

In response, the third Sneasel smirked before enveloping itself in a white aura...

x-x-x

"Oh, it's you again. 'Dante' and 'Vergil,' correct?" There was that pronunciation butchering again. Vergil didn't say anything, simply taking the clipboard an pen from Pelipper. He handed it to Dante, having filled out the location and decided to let him choose the team name.

"... What should I name it?"

"Whatever you want. Just try the first thing that comes to your mind."

He paused.

"Devil May Cry. We're Team Devil May Cry."

x-x-x

The newly-established duo went over to the Notice Board to find that, sadly, there were no jobs posted.

"Wh-what? Why are there no jobs?" Dante asked, still staring in disbelief.

"Maybe some other teams beat us to them." Vergil replied, before turning to look at a small brown fox who was apparently having a discussion with a Torchic with a scar on one eye.

"Even then, they probably can't take on _that_ many jobs at once. Maybe Mackenzie and Hayden took some jobs, too."

"Maybe. Well, what are we going to do now?"

"Excuse me. You're Dante and Vergil, correct?" a voice asked. The two looked around to find a strange yellow creature with black ears and a red gem at the end of a long tail and on his forehead.

"If you don't mind, I have a request for you. My name is Ampharos."

"Well, we don't have anything else to do. Okay, we'll take your job." Vergil said.

"All right. I want you two to find this Pokémon. It calls itself Phantom, and it has been a massive trouble to me." Ampharos said, handing Vergil a poster with a picture of a red snail seemingly made of lava.

"Sinister Woods..." Dante read off the name of the dungeon. "Okay, that shouldn't be too hard. However, I want to know why you want us to hunt him down."

"Well... h-he..." Tears welled up in his eyes. "He took my wife and daughter from me!"

The duo exchanged glances, before looking back to Ampharos.

"Let's get going." Dante said, turning to go back to Pokémon Square.

x-x-x

With a loud sigh, the Magcargo slid through the undergrowth, leaving a trail of embers behind.

 _Someone else just couldn't wait. Great Master, he was stupid._

"Hold it right there!" a voice shouted.

"So, you've been sent to hunt me down, have you?" the Magcargo replied, not taking his eyes off the fallen Sneasel before him.

"You're Phantom, the Magcargo that took Ampharos's Trawl Orb, aren't you?" The voice said.

"Yes." Phantom replied, turning around to find a brown fox accompanied by an orange chick. "You're half right. I am, indeed, Phantom. However, I've done nothing of the sort."

"You liar!" The fox barked, getting into a battle-ready stance. The Magcargo smirked.

"Tell me, Miss Eevee, what evidence do you have that points to me?"

The Eevee was clearly at a loss for words. Her companion gasped as something happened to Phantom...


	9. You've betrayed Master Vortex!

**Chapter 9: "You've betrayed Master Vortex!"**

Team Devil May Cry ran over to the location of Sinister Woods, only to find two Pokémon by the entrance, unconscious. The first one to wake up was a small, brown fox.

"Ugh... That hurt..." The fox grumbled. She tried to rise to her feet, only to stumble over again, landing on the ground with a thud. At this, the second Pokémon, a Torchic with a scar on one eye, got up.

"You okay, Esme?" He asked.

"Yeah, Tanner..." She replied.

"What happened?" Dante asked.

"Something... We've never seen before... Some weird... _Thing_..." Esme grunted as she tried to stand up again, and found herself limping.

"We were wiped out..." Tanner continued in a mixture of disappointment and pain.

"Here, take this." Vergil said, handing Esme an Oran Berry.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Tanner said.

"Why not?" Vergil asked.

"Because-"

He was cut off by the sound of Esme wolfing down her Oran Berry, and she immediately perked up. She began running around in circles, speaking very fast.

"... She gets very hyper when she eats them..." Tanner said with a sigh as she apparently seemed to be taking an odd interest in her own fluffy, brown, white-tipped tail.

"I never knew I had a tail! Did you know I had a tail, Tanner? Oh my Mew! I love this tail! It's so fluffy!" She said excitedly. She began chasing said tail before she stopped in her tracks and crashed. Dante tossed an Oran Berry to Tanner, who ate it without complaint. His eyes widened as he perked up. He started running around like a chicken with its head cut off, before he tripped over the sleeping Esme. The brothers snickered, before walking into the dungeon.

x-x-x

"See that? We shouldn't get too close to it." Vergil said, pointing to a small, brown, pig-like creature sleeping in the corner of the room.

"Does getting too close to it wake it up?" Dante asked.

"Yes." He replied.

Dante led the way around the Swinub, only to find the path they were taking blocked by a blue, plant bulb-like creature with red eyes and what appeared to be grass sprouting from its head. It made no move, only watching the two intruders carefully.

"What's it doing?"

"It's waiting for you to make your move."

"Why?"

"That's something even Hayden doesn't know. In fact, no one knows why they do this. It's like some kind of, as Charmander put it, 'unspoken set of rules'."

This opened up a whole new can of worms for Dante, but decided he should stop before he gave himself a headache. He unsheathed his claws, scratching at the Oddish. It cringed, but quickly recovered and retaliated. Dante felt a prick, and the Oddish looked a bit relieved. In response, he used Scratch again. Oddish collapsed, defeated.

Suddenly, the Charmander felt a strange surge of power course through his body. A strange fire erupted in his belly, the heat rising to his throat, and he opened his mouth. Tiny orange embers came flying out of his mouth. He felt the urge to fight someone else, to test this new power out.

"Dante, calm down!" Vergil's voice snapped him bak into reality, and he felt the lust for battle die away.

He shook his head. "Sorry. I just... I don't know what happened."

The two continued, but Dante began to fear his new power, hoping that the urge to fight didn't come up again, or at least not as strongly as before.

x-x-x

The Sableye rose to his feet, groaning in pain. He looked around to find that no one else was there. He called out to someone, anyone, but to no avail.

"Shadow? Are you okay?" A voice asked. Shadow turned around to find a bluish-black creature with a large red feather on its left ear and large claws on its hands and feet.

"Frost? What are you doing here?" Shadow asked.

"I was seperated from the rest of my group. Master Vortex was trying to get rid of your Team due to your incompetence in battle at the request of Master Dark, and sent my troop in as a replacement. I managed to save you from him, but in doing so..." The Sneasel trailed off.

"You've betrayed Master Vortex!" Shadow snapped. "Why?"

"I don't know what came over me! It just didn't feel right to leave you to suffer at Master Vortex's hands."

There was a brief pause.

"At any rate, we should find what we're looking for." Shadow said.

"No. We can't be redeemed. No amount of hunting can fix the fact that I saved you from Master Vortex's wrath, that you escaped from it." Frost said, turning to look out at the scene now unfolding before them.

A Magcargo was slipping through the underbrush, leaving trails of tiny embers behind.

"Now, Blitz should be here at any moment." It said.

 _What is Master Phantom doing here?!_ Shadow had to resist the urge to scream out. Phantom sighed, obviously not too enthusiastic about having to wait for Blitz, whoever that was. Suddenly, they all heard footsteps, coming closer and closer...

x-x-x

Dante and Vergil approached the clearing, finding a large lava snail blocking their path.

"So, you've returned." The Magcargo said. He turned around, only to find that these two were, in fact, a different Team.

"So you're Phantom, the one who kidnapped Ampharos's wife and daughter, aren't you?"

"Ah, another false accusation. I am, indeed, Phantom. However, I didn't kidnap anyone. You'll find that true if you look deeper in this dungeon."

 _... I can't tell if he's lying or not..._ Vergil thought. Dante, however, was apparently itching for a good fight.

 _He probably won't listen to me, knowing him._

"Okay, we can do this one of two ways." Vergil said. "You can show us if you're lying or not, and we'll go on from there. Or, we can just fight it out here."

"We don't have time for this!" Dante snapped.

"I have to agree with the Charmander." Phantom said. "I don't have all day with this. I have to meet someone. So let's go!"

And with that, they started to fight.

Dante was the first to strike, launching himself at Phantom with his claws unsheathed. Scratch did little damage to him, but it distracted him enough for Vergil to tackle him. Again, Tackle did little damage. Phantom laughed.

"You honestly think that will be enough to stop me?!" He roared, summoning large rocks that floated in the air somehow. He then hurled them at Dante. He grunted, slamming painfully into a tree. He writhed under the rocks, surprised by how painful they were.

"Now that's an attack. 'Rock Tomb', it's called. It can seriously hurt Fire-types like that Charmander." Phantom explained.

"My. Name. Is. Dante!" He growled, the fire renewed inside of him. With a sudden burst of strength, he managed to get out from underneath the rocks. The flame on the end of his tail blazed, his eyes turning red. Through all the dust, Vergil could swear that, just for a brief moment, he saw a long, red coat flapping in the wind. Long, white hair brushing his face. His _human_ face. However, when he blinked, Dante was still a Charmander.

Dante charged, claws unsheathed. Strangely, they began to glow. He struck Phantom, who cringed at the attack. Seeing his chance, he charged straight for the Magcargo, but stopped short when he felt a strange bubbling sensation in his gut. He took a deep breath, and a steady flow of bubbles went right for Phantom when he exhaled. Phantom groaned in agony when the bubbles hit their mark. It was just Bubble! Why did it hurt that badly?

 _Type match-up, Phantom._ He reminded himself. _Well, I'm not done yet!_

He surrounded himself in a red aura, and was gone in a bright flash.

In his place lumbered a massive spider-like creature with lava visibly flowing through its body.

"Gah! What the Hell is that?!" Dante cried out in shock.

"This is what you face now, boys!" Phantom said with renewed confidence. "This is a Devil Trigger!"

The fire on Dante's tail still blazed. Vergil could swear he saw it. The coat. The hair. The face.

Phantom narrowed all six of his eyes. "You're no ordinary Charmander, are you?" He asked.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself." He replied, switching between his Charmander and human forms.

"I could tell by the eyes. Those eyes are unlike anything I've ever seen on a Charmander before." He then turned to Vergil. "And you. Those eyes are not those of a Squirtle."

"What are they, then?" Vergil asked.

"They're... They're... I can't tell! They look as though they belong to a human, and yet a demon at the same time!" Phantom groaned loudly in frustration. "Enough! I'll eviscerate you, abnormal scum!"

Dante smirked. "I'd like to see you try!"

He used Ember on Phantom, who laughed when the attack made contact. However, he didn't see Vergil coming from the side, using Bubble to throw him off guard. Even though he was visibly affected by the attack, he still laughed.

"Foolish Abnormals! Do you actually think _that_ will be enough to defeat me?! You know nothing of true power!" His eyes turned red, and his abdomen uncurled to reveal a scorpion-like tail. He swiped at Vergil with a scorpion-like foreleg while also attempting to strike at him with his tail. Vergil was sent flying across the field, slamming into that same tree Dante did. The combination of strikes and rocks all relatively damaged him. He groaned, pushing himself up from the pile.

Dante unsheathed his claws, but his human form had him wielding a sword that was known to the brothers as "Rebellion". The switches between human and Charmander form were becoming more and more frequent, until Vergil couldn't tell which one he was looking at anymore. Finally, he gave up trying, and only saw a Charmander now. He got up and limped over to Dante's side.

"You okay, Vergil?" He asked.

"As long as I can still fight, I'm fine." Vergil replied, suddenly realizing that Dante had struck Phantom's topside. The spider demon was weakened greatly from the attack.

 _The topside is its weak point!_

Vergil took a deep breath and charged at Phantom. He felt cool air around him, jumping into the air, and slamming into the demon's back. It managed to throw him off, but luckily he didn't hit anything. He panted, falling to his knees in exhaustion.

Phantom groaned and collasped. The red light enveloped him, and he reverted back to his Magcargo form. He groaned again, attempting to rise.

"I... I haven't... Been defeated... Yet..." He growled, managing to lift his head. Dante collapsed, exhausted. The flame on his tail became weaker. All three gasped as an enormous black portal with orange and purple dots resembling multiple eyes opened up in the sky, seemingly replacing it entirely.

"M-Master Vortex! Please, Master, just give me this one last chance! Please, give me the strength to eliminate these Abnormals!"

"No. You have failed me, Phantom." A voice boomed from the portal, echoing throughout the forest. As it spoke, the eyes began to glow one by one.

"Wh-What?! M-Master, no! I-I promise, I'll get rid of them!" Phantom begged. All of the Vortex's eyes were glowing now, and began to rearrange themselves to take on the form of a face, glaring down at the helpless Magcargo. White lightning crackled from within the Vortex, striking him. He screamed in agony as bolt after bolt hit him.

"Master! Please, don't! They're Abnormals, I swear! I'll get rid of them!" Phantom was now sobbing uncontrollably. The Vortex was now cloaked in whiteness, and still absorbing more light, as if draining the sky itself of the sun's rays. More bolts struck the ground and Phantom, the Vortex overflowing with power. Finally, a massive bolt struck the ground where the Magcargo lay...

After the bright light had faded along with the Vortex itself, Shadow gasped.

In Phantom's place stood the younger Abnormal!

He groaned and collapsed, gasping for breath. Phantom was in front of him, cringing in preparation for the final attack. He gasped when he saw the Charmander.

"You... You saved me?!"

The Abnormal chuckled. "Kinda funny how that turned out..."

"Dante!" The older of the Abnormals shouted, running over to him. "What were you thinking?! You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"And yet I didn't..." He said with a groan.

"Tell me... Why? Why did you save me?" Phantom asked.

"I remembered something when the lightning struck. When I first heard your name, something clicked. Seeing you like that... I remembered that there was someone else. They were absolutely helpless, and I couldn't save them."

"Is that it?" The other Abnormal, the one he'd called Vergil, asked.

"Yes. However, I'm now wondering if me not saving that person caused me and that other person to hate each other." The younger Abnormal, whom he called Dante, replied. Vergil paused for a moment, taking this in.

"Oh, right. Phantom." Vergil now addressed the Magcargo. "You wouldn't happen to know how Dante survived that strike, would you?"

Phantom seemed to consider this for a moment.

"I believe it has something to do with Blaze."

"Blaze?"

"Yes. Blaze is the Ability that quite a few Fire-types such as Dante have. It increases the power of Fire-type moves when the Pokémon is in critical danger. It seems as though Blaze acts as a form of a Devil Trigger. This could explain his survival."

"Tell me: Did you see Dante change at all?"

"I saw his eyes turn red. Otherwise, no."

Now it was Dante's turn to speak up.

"Phantom, you didn't by chance fight a brown fox and an orange chick, did you?"

"Yes. They accused me of stealing a Trawl Orb from an Ampharos. However, I can assure you that I did nothing of the sort."

"Wait... The Pokémon that gave us that job was an Ampharos..." Vergil trailed off.

"Something's up. And I think it may have something to do with Ampharos." Dante concluded.

There was a brief pause.

"Well, I believe it would be best if we joined forces. I am no longer useful to the Vortex. Thus, I am considered an enemy. I believe I could prove useful if you ever have to face any more demons."

The two seemed to consider this.

"Very well. You're on our side from now on." Vergil said.

"I promise, I'll do my best!" Phantom said, before the group continued on down the path deeper into the woods.

"So, Master Phantom is working with the Abnormals." Frost said.

"It would seem that way." Shadow responded. "But aren't we considered Abnormals now, too? We are enemies of Mast-" He caught himself. "The Vortex, right?"

"Yes. Let's follow them. I'd like to see how Master Phantom fares alongside them."

With that, the two followed their master and his two new comerades.


	10. Do you believe in humans?

Okay, I might have to do a rewrite of this chapter after I play Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, if I need the timeline to fit better. After I play the first Devil May Cry game, as I finally got it, I might also need to do a rewrite of the previous chapter. Until then, we'll have to make do. You might not see me update this until later this year, as I, again, may have to do a rewrite.

~Mackenzie

X~x~X

 **Chapter 10: "Do you believe in humans?"**

The Sneasel laughed as they approached the end of the dungeon.

"The Mareep is here." One said.

"Yes." Another replied. "We should be able to hold her off if we transform."

Another one sighed. "If only Frost hadn't been so stupid, we'd be able to fight her off better."

"Agreed." One said. "But let's not think about that now. We have work to do."

"Hey! Aren't we all stupid then?!" The last of them said when he realized what the others were saying.

"Shut up!" The first said.

With that, the five Sneasel continued on to their destination.

x-x-x

"Tell me, Phantom, what happened when you fought against Esme and Tanner?" Dante asked.

"Well, I Devil Triggered at the very beginning. Now that I think about it, I wonder why I was grumbling so much when I had enough power to Devil Trigger." Phantom replied, chuckling.

"They got trounced, didn't they?"

"Yes." Phantom smiled.

Vergil rolled his eyes. "If we don't get going, we're never going to get to the end of this dungeon!"

This seemed to shut them up. The three Pokémon continued through the forest, only to find that a large green bug with scythes for arms blocking their path. The Scyther kept its eyes locked on the group, not moving and inch.

"I want to mess with its head. Let's see how long it takes for it to decide to attack us."

Vergil sighed while Phantom hit his head on a rock repeatedly.

x-x-x

The Scyther, Vergil, and Phantom all fell asleep after a while. With a sigh, Dante decided to just get on with it. He took a deep breath, felt a fire ignite within him, and unleashed a new attack, much stronger than Ember.

The large column of flame went right through Scyther, immediately knocking it out.

 _Why do they faint instead of die?_ He wondered.

Phantom apparently awoke to the sound of Dante's Flamethrower and was now trying to wake Vergil. He sighed, before whacking him in the face. Dante let out an exasperated sigh.

 _There was a trick that he pulled on me this morning. How do I change it to make sense here, though?_

"Let's leave him behind." Phantom said.

Vergil snapped awake at this.

"What the Hell, Phantom?!" They both shouted.

"I was being sarcastic. I had to find some way to wake Vergil up." He said, before motioning ahead. Dante seemed to take the hint.

"Let's go."

However, as they continued, Vergil couldn't help but feel as though someone was following them.

x-x-x

Frost and Shadow continued to follow Phantom and the two Abnormals, managing to fight off the rogue Pokémon within the dungeon. All the while, Shadow was considering whether or not Phantom was really a team with those two or if he was just faking for an advantage. Frost kept trying to assert that he had, in fact, reformed. He tried to shake it off, but the crawling suspision remained that someone, _something_ , was following them. He didn't know whether or not it was just his fear of his original master still lingering or just his imagination.

"Shadow, what's wrong? Master Phantom has reformed, you know." Frost spoke up, as if noticing his apprehension.

"I just... I can't help but feel like someone's following us." He replied, taking a nervous bite out of an Apple they'd found. Frost sighed, ready to continue.

"Come on, Shadow. We need to keep moving."

x-x-x

Claire and Chris ran on to the Pelipper Post Office in the hopes that they weren't too late in finding a job. When they got there, however, all of the jobs were already taken.

"Well, that sucks." Claire said dejectedly. Chris turned to her.

"Hey, maybe we'll find another job if we ask someone." He suggested.

"Sir." A voice spoke up. "If you're looking for a job, I have one for you."

"Really?" Chris asked, turning toward the source of the voice. He saw an orange creature holding a bone and wearing a skull mask.

"My name's Dustin." The creature introduced himself. "Well, really, it's Cubone. Where I come from, though, everyone calls me Dustin."

"Okay then, Dustin." Claire said.

"Before I can give you the job, though, I must ask: Do you believe in humans?"

The siblings exchanged glances.

"Yes." Claire said when they returned to Dustin.

"S-So there _are_ believers?! I knew it! Oh, thank you! Thank you!" The Cubone said, jumping up and down around the two.

"Whoa..." Chris said, eyes widening.

"Why did you ask?"

"Well, it's just that I don't like being considered a freak because of my fascination with humans. I'm glad I'm not the only believer, then!"

"What do you know about them?" Claire asked.

"Well, I do know that humans exist in legends, so I believe that they existed at some point in time. The Ninetales Legend and The Darkness Legend are great examples of this, though. I believe that humans existed alongside Pokémon at some point, before the Great Pokémon Rebellion centuries ago. Ever since The First Conception, I think, humans existed. I think that there are worlds where The Conceptions never happened, and we are nothing but mere imagination to humans. At least, those are my theories..."

The siblings had already blanked out by the time he'd finished.

"You didn't hear anything I just said, did you?"

"Nope." Chris said bluntly.

"Oh, that always happens when I start talking about humans! I end up rambling, and then no one listens to me!"

"Hey, Dustin!" A voice called out. "We need to get going!"

"Coming, Dad!" Dustin called back, before handing a piece of paper to Claire.

After he'd left, the two looked over the job request.

"So, he wants us to hunt down a group of Sneasel in Sinister Woods? Doesn't sound too hard." Chris said.

"What are we waiting for, then?" Claire replied. "Let's go!"

x-x-x

The trio heard laughter up ahead. Phantom sighed.

"My former allies are up ahead, I can tell. I just need to know how I can help you fight them."

"Stay hidden. We'll give you a signal when we need you to come in." Dante said. Phantom nodded, before heading off to a hiding spot. The brothers continued alone.

x-x-x

"So, that must be Ampharos's daughter over there. I don't see any sign of his wife, though..." The Charmander said as he and his Squirtle companion walked into the clearing, focused on the Mareep. The Sneasel hid in the underbrush, waiting to ambush them. The seven Sneasel that Dark the Houndoom had been generous enough to send in as reinforcements tried their hardest to contain their excitement for a fight. The lead Sneasel simply remained calm.

"Wait." The Squirtle said, stopping in his tracks. "They're around here."

"Why don't you just show yourselves, then? It'd be much easier than trying to hide!" The Charmander called out.

"So, it appears we have been discovered." One Sneasel said.

"Yes." The lead replied.

"Let's go." A third said.

x-x-x

Five dark creatures with feathers on their ears and long claws on their hands and feet stepped out from the underbrush. They laughed as they stared the two down.

"We are the Frosts." Said one.

"We're under orders from Master Dark to contain this Mareep. She's a danger to the community in this forest." Continued another.

"Why? What has she done?!" Dante shouted.

"Every intruder who dares enter this forest will be eliminated. And that includes you two." A third said.

"Tell me this, then: What about Phantom? If all intruders are to be eliminated, then why haven't you sought out Phantom yet?" Vergil asked.

"Master Phantom serves as a protector, just as we do. If they manage to defeat him, they have to get through us." The first creature replied. Dante and Vergil heard rustling from behind and turned around to find that seven more creatures had surrounded them. In response, Dante gave a subtle flick of his tail. On this cue, Phantom launched himself out of a tree. He landed perfectly on his feet, causing the ground beneath him to shake.

"M-Master Phantom?!" The creatures shrieked at the Devil Triggered Magcargo that stood before them. "Since when did you join Abnormals?!"

"Since I became an Abnormal myself!" The lava-spider replied.

"You're not alone, you three!" Another voice said from behind. Everyone turned around to find a Mudkip and Torchic running into the clearing. The Mudkip flinched when he saw Phantom.

"What the Hell is that?!" He shrieked. Dante and Vergil just stared at him.

"So, you're Sneasel, aren't you? The group who antagonized Dustin and attempted to take over his town, right?" Claire said, seemingly the voice of reason in this operation. The Sneasel laughed.

"We're not Sneasel. We are the Frosts." The first "Frost", seemingly the leader, said.

"Really? Then how come this wanted poster, from Dustin, no less, says that there is a group of Sneasel that frequent these woods that all go by the alias 'Frost'?"

The lead Frost didn't have a response. However, one of his allies' claws began to glow, and he swiped at Claire. Thinking fast, Phantom struck the Frost with a scorpion-like foreleg. This sent him flying across the clearing, slamming into another Frost. The two hit a tree and groaned in pain. On this cue, Dante took a deep breath, felt the fire ignite within him, and unleashed Flamethrower. This caused a third Frost to cringe at the attack, leaving it open to Claire's Ember. Chris slammed his flippers onto the ground, causing dirt to go flying at another Frost. It tried to shake off the Mud-Slap attack with a laugh, allowing Vergil to use Tackle against it. The Frost stumbled backwards and collapsed. The group then turned to the remaining six Frosts. They smirked, before their smug looks turned into full-on laughter.

"You think that you're _so_ strong, now that you have Master Phantom on your side?!" The leader said mockingly.

"Ha! If this 'Dustin' knew how weak you'd be without him, he wouldn't have even bothered to ask you!" Another continued.

"Plus, we all have a special kind of... talent, we'll say. One that will allow us to get rid of you, here and now." Said a third in creepy monotone.

"Not on my watch!" Phantom shouted, running over to attack the Frosts.

"I won't let you hurt my allies!" He swiped at them with a foreleg, striking nothing but air. When he realized what was going on, it was too late to stop them.

They were gone. In their places stood gray lizard-like creatures with icy armor and an ice shield on one arm. They threw threatening glares at the group, before one launched its icy claws from its fingertips at Dante. However, no one saw what was coming next.

A dark spear-like object had impaled itself through the Frost's body, and it reverted back to its Sneasel form. The spear then morphed into a cat-like creature shrouded in darkness. Its red eyes seemed to pierce through the souls of all others present. The other Frosts were clearly too taken aback with this act of violence to do anything.

"Shadow?!" The lead Frost cried out in shock.

"Wha- What are you doing?!" Another continued, just as shocked.

The cat-creature smiled.

"Just doing my job." Shadow said. This distraction allowed Dante to strike another Frost with the ice claws that were launched at him in the first place. Claire, recovering from her shock, threw herself at one Frost with claws unsheathed. It blocked the attack with its ice shield, allowing Chris to sneak up behind it and use Tackle to throw it off guard. With its defenses down, Vergil decided to join in with his own Tackle. The Frost collapsed, returning to its Sneasel state. Phantom's eyes turned red, and his abdomen uncurled to reveal a scorpion tail. He stabbed at one of the Ice-Types with said tail, knocking a few other ones away with his forelegs.

The remaining two Frosts decided that now would be a good time to run. However, Shadow launched spikes of dark energy in all directions, momentarily stopping them in their tracks. In that moment, _another_ Frost lept out of the shadows. This Frost stabbed his bretheren in the back with his icy claws, reverting them both to their Sneasel forms. The remaining Frost then turned itself into a Sneasel, while Phantom returned to his Magcargo form. Shadow, however, turned into a purple spiky creature with gems for eyes.

With the battle finally over, the Charmander and Squirtle duo approached the small, yellow-fleeced sheep that was the reason they were there to begin with. The Mareep slowly opened her eyes, seeing that Dante had extended a hand out to her.

The two's eyes met, and one word escaped the sheep. One word which would shock everyone present.

"Daddy?"

Dante's response shocked them even more.

"Patty?"


	11. You're not a normal Charmander!

**Chapter 11: "You're not a normal Charmander!"**

"Wh-What?! Wait! Let me get this straight: She's your _daughter_?! _What_?!" Vergil shouted.

 _Well, it looks like you're an uncle, Verge! How's that for a plot twist?_ A part of his mind screamed at him, oddly cheerful considering the situation.

 _This brings up so much else! Why does he remember her? How? Why is she here? Is there something I should know about? Who did he..._

 _Quit while you're ahead, Verge! Quit while you're ahead!_

"How?! _How_?! How do you remember her?! How do you even _know_ her?!"

Those words were probably what anyone was thinking at this point. Dante's eyes widened, obviously bewildered by all the shocked reactions.

"I-I don't know! Something just..." He trailed off, as if trying to find the right word.

"... Clicked?" Patty concluded.

"Sort of. It wasn't like the other things I remember, where they're just fragments. The moment I saw her, I had some kind of crawling suspicion. The eyes just proved it."

"It was the same thing for me. Everything just _flooded_ back!"

"Anyway..." Dante said, clearing his throat. He extended a hand out to her again. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She replied, allowing him to pull her up to her feet. Or hooves, rather.

Everyone then turned when they heard sarcastic clapping. An Ampharos stepped out of the shadows, chuckling.

"So, you figured it out. I never would have guessed that you would have been the person she remembered. This is all just one big family reunion, isn't it?"

Dante bristled. "What are you talking about?!"

"I lied about the whole thing. In all honesty, I only brought you out here so that I could have the satisfaction of killing an Abnormal. Master Dark said that I would be greatly rewarded if I did so. Mareep's presence was merely so that I could lead any fool here. Master Dark has his own plans, after all."

"Blitz? You set me up!"

"Ah, Master Phantom. I knew I could count on you to lose to someone eventually. You'd become an Abnormal, and therefore I'd be able to kill you."

"So, you're willing to endanger the lives of innocents just for your own personal gain? Then again, it's what I'd expect from someone like you... _Richard_." Dante said, unsheathing his claws. Ampharos flinched, realizing what he'd said. However, he quickly recovered from his surprise.

"So, you do remember." Blitz smirked.

"There's a reserved spot in Hell for people like you." Dante growled in reply. He walked towards the Ampharos, the flame on his tail blazing in fury. The bulb on the end of Blitz's tail began to glow. Blitz simply laughed, surrounding himself with a yellow aura. In a bright flash, the Ampharos was gone.

In his place stood a bipedal, reptilian creature with massive iron claws on its hands and metal plates all over its body to serve as armor. Sparks flew from its body, and it swiped an electrified claw at Dante. He easily dodged the attack, launching Flamethrower at it. This caused it to drop its electric shield, leaving it open to another attack. Shadow threw himself at the demon, unsheathing his claws to reveal a shadowy aura. He struck Blitz, causing him to roar in pain.

All of a sudden, a glowing white light struck the demon. Everyone looked to the source of the light. Dante's eyes widened in shock when he saw that Patty had just dealt the blow to the demon's skull.

"Patty?!"

"Hey! I may not be the oldest, but I can still fight!" She replied, before stepping to the side to allow Vergil to get his attack in. He went for a simple Tackle, only for Blitz to regain his composure and strike Vergil with his large claw. He laughed, regaining his electric shield. Any further attempts from the others to attack him were useless.

Phantom let out a roar, summoning those large rocks again, before hurling them at the electric demon. The demon groaned, losing the shield again. Frost ran over to him, nothing but a dark blur, before colliding with him. This attack was the last straw for Blitz. He fell to the ground, reverting back to its Ampharos form.

"No!" He shouted, slowly rising to his feet again. "I can't be defeated by the likes of an underling! I deserve to have Master Dark's approval!"

Both Dante and Vergil rolled their eyes.

"Have you ever considered the possibility of failure? Do you know how Master Dark responds to failure?" Shadow asked.

"What about Mast-" Frost caught himself. "The Vortex? You know how he'll react, right?"

"I already know." A mysterious third voice cut in. Eight black-and-red hounds with white, skull-like _things_ on their foreheads and white spines on their backs lept out of the shadows.

"Oh, _come on_!" Claire snapped at the prospect of having to fight more demons.

"Wait! That voice... Dark!" Phantom cried out.

"M-Master Dark?!" Shadow and Frost responded in shock. Blitz simply smiled.

"Master Dark! Show yourself, and demonstrate your power to these insolent bugs!"

"It's not them who will see my power. None of them are the ones I seek. There are others out there who are the ones I seek."

Vergil scanned the area for the source of the voice. However, he was caught off-guard when a larger hound with the same color scheme as the others jumped out right in front of him. Where the skull-like growth on the forehead would be was replaced with two horns. The hound stared directly at the Ampharos, growling.

"You have failed me, Blitz."

"Wh-What?! M-Master Dark!"

"Basilisks!" Dark barked.

"Pack, pack! Kill, kill!" The hounds barked as they charged at Blitz.

"Master-" Blitz was interrupted by his own agonized screams.

"Pack, pack! Kill, kill!" The Basilisks repeated, biting down on Blitz one by one. At the sight of the demon's suffering, Dark smiled and began humming an eerie tune. This soon turned into full-on singing:

" _Here there be Witches on the edge of town._

 _Cast them in water to see if they drown._

 _Cleanse them with fire to burn them down._

 _Bury their bones in hallowed ground._ "

Blitz's screams had finally died down into mere whimpers. The Basilisks backed away from the crippled, bloody mess on the ground.

 _They... They_ bleed _?_ Vergil thought, suddenly realizing how long it had been since he'd last seen blood. He willed himself to do something, _anything_ , besides just stand there and watch. There was just something so oddly hypnotising about Dark's singing that forced Vergil to stay put.

" _Here there be Witches on the edge of town._

 _Cast them in water to see if they drown._

 _Cleanse them with fire to burn them down._

 _Bury their bones in hallowed ground._

 _Here there be Witches on the edge of town._ "

Then the world went black.

x-x-x

Phantom stared at his collapsed Teammates, speechless.

"I'd like to thank Elite Banshee when she decides to show up. Although it doesn't affect those who've heard the song before the enchantment, it'll have to do." Dark explained.

"It doesn't affect those who've heard the song?"

Dark turned around to look at the one who had spoken, only to find himself face-to-face with Dante.

A human Dante.

"Wha-What?! A h-human?! How?!"

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself." Dante replied, unsheathing his sword and holding it up to Dark's throat. "But I do know one thing: If you-"

"Oh, Dark!" A seductive, feminine voice called out. A green-and-white humanoid figure stepped out from the shadows.

"How many more of these people _are_ there?!" Dante screamed in frustration, now that a perfectly good threat had been ruined.

"Well, I believe there are about ten of us that you now have to face, my good sir. And I must say, you're no slouch. I could use a handsome devil such as yourself." The creature smiled, a lustful twinkle in her eyes that Dante could see even from where he was standing. In a sudden, bright flash, though, more Pokémon appeared.

Before Dante stood three dragon-like monsters. One was an orange, bipedal creature with a flame at the end of its tail, much like the one he himself had. The second was a yellow bipedal dragon with a small spike and two antennae protruding from the top of its head. The last was a quadripedal, light blue dragon with red wings and fin-like protrusions coming from the head.

"Anyone who wishes to live should leave now." Said the yellow dragon. At this, Dark laughed.

"Oh, you want this, too, then? I'll gladly demonstrate to you, too:

 _Here there be Witches, can't you hear their cries?_

 _Press them with stones to see if they lie._

 _Sever their heads and gouge out their eyes._

 _Recite your prayers in the dead of night!_

 _Here there be Witches, can't you hear their cries?_ "

The three Pokémon remained unaffected. If Dark noticed, he didn't show it.

" _Demons on the prowl, we must make a stand!_

 _Black-souled Devil-spawn inhabit this land!_

 _The unpure of heart will fall by your hand!_

 _Here there be Witches, save our..._

 _Souls have been lost, and the panic grows!_

 _Spells cast over blood and broken bones!_

 _An evil stronger than we've ever known!_

 _Here there be Witches, and all must die!_ "

Now, even Dante could feel the effects the song had on the others.

" _Here there be Witches, and they must be slain._

 _Cut of their flesh and they feel no pain._

 _Shackle their hands with sanctified chains._

 _Snip out their tounges before they speak your name._

 _Here there be Witches, and the must be slain!_ "

Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and then silence. Dante opened his eyes to find that the demons were gone. Even Blitz was gone. The only ones there now were the three dragons.

"What...? What... Happened?" He asked.

The orange dragon turned to him.

"After we heard that some Sneasel were causing some trouble, we came rushing in. Of course, when we saw this madness going on, we realized we were beaten to the punch."

"Yeah. But we realized you were in trouble, too." Continued the blue dragon.

"As such, we decided to step in. While you were being lulled in by that Houndoom's singing, we attacked him. That bright light you saw was a combination of Gawain's Hyper Beam, Percival's Flamethrower, and my Ice Beam." Finished the yellow dragon. The orange dragon, the one he'd called Percival, gave a proud flick of his tail. Gawain, the blue dragon, simply smiled.

Dante suddenly noticed that everyone else was gone.

"Where...?"

"The explosion from our combination attack blew them out. You were spared, though." Gawain said.

"Lancelot thinks it may have something to do with the fact that... Well..." Percival trailed off.

"You're not a normal Charmander! I saw it with my own eyes! You were a human! You had this sword, and you were pointing it right at that Houndoom!" The yellow dragon, Lancelot, shouted.

"Lancelot, calm down! Chill!" Percival said, holding out a small object. At the mere sound the object made, Lancelot's eyelids grew heavy. After a short while, he sat down on the ground and fell asleep, leaning his head against Gawain's shoulder, much to the latter's chagrin.

"Sorry, just a security measure." Percival said.

"Anyway, how do we get out of here?"

"Oh, yes. Your Team Badge lets you escape a dungeon after you complete a mission." Gawain explained. "However, since everybody, and we can assume that your partner was included, was sent out after our attack, this mission could technically be conidered a failure."

"But Patty was sent out, too. We were supposed to rescue her, and since I don't see her anywhere around here..."

Percival smiled.

"Perceptive, aren't you? Well, if that's the case, then I believe your mission was a success. Just as soon as you get out of here, at least."

With that, Dante held up the Team Badge. In a bright flash of light, he was out of the dungeon. Gawain and Percival exchanged glances.

"Is he really a Charmander? I know Lancelot wouldn't lie, but I didn't see anything unusual..."

"I don't know, Percival..." Gawain replied.

"Well, shall we leave?"

"We shall."

With that, the two dragons, Gawain carrying Lancelot on his back, took their leave.

However, they never noticed that the Houndoom was, in a sense, still there. He stood next to a sentient blob of pink goo.

"I will admit, Envy, I'm impressed. You kept my form quite well."

"Dark." The Ditto responded "Why must you laugh so much? Do you know how hard it was for me to maintain your form?"

"You kept it well, though, Envy. You even fooled my Basilisks! You did well today, Envy. I'm sure Master Vortex will be pleased."

"I sure hope so."

The duo heard footsteps heading their way. Dark pushed Envy into the nearest underbrush, before jumping in after him.

"I told you, he should be here!" One voice snapped.

"And if he's not?" Asked another.

"Then he's as good as dead." Replied the first.

 _Oh, no..._ Dark thought.

x-x-x

"Ugh..." Vergil groaned as he regained consciousness. He sat up, massaging his forehead. God, why did it hurt so bad? What even happened to make it hurt like this?

"Vergil? Vergil!" Dante called out. Vergil opened his eyes.

"Ugh... What happened?"

"Well, after the Houndoom-"

"Wait, I think I remember. Dark did that weird singing, and that managed to knock us out. So, we failed?"

"Not really. Our mission was to get Patty out of the dungeon, and since we did that..."

"How?"

"After you fell unconscious, there were these Pokémon that showed up. The resulting explosion caused everyone to be sent out, including Patty. So, technically, we succeeded. It just wasn't in the way anyone planned."

"Huh... What happened to everyone else?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I just got here!" He replied. Vergil groaned again as Dante helped him up to his feet.

"I'm guessing we can go home now? It's getting dark..."

"Yeah. Let's go."

x-x-x

"Hey, guys." Dante said as he approached their Team Base.

"Dante! Vergil! You're back!" Claire cried out in delight. She smiled, that sweet Torchic smile that can't very easily described in words how sweet it is.

"Daddy!" Patty ran right up to Dante, jumping into his arms. "Oh, Daddy, I was so worried! I wasn't sure whether or not you were alive after that Pokémon showed up!"

"Patty, it's okay. As long as you were safe, I wouldn't care if I was dead."

She buried her face into his chest, and cried in relief. Phantom smiled at the sight of this somewhat-belated reunion.

"While I can't help but find this really sweet, I still have a few questions." Chris cut in. "First off, Claire: Why didn't you freak out when you saw Phantom? You hate spiders!"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, Phantom! Claire's just like that! Anyway, why?"

"Well, remember when I complained about that dizziness after I touched that burned bush?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"When that happened, I saw something. I saw Dante and Vergil. They were with Phantom, fighting the Frosts."

"What? How?"

"Could it be...? Claire has the Dimensional Scream?!" Phantom shouted.

"The Dimensional Scream?"

"Yes. In the Darkness Legend, the human has an ability referred to as the Dimensional Scream. It's unknown how they aquired it, but it allows them to see an object's past or future. It cannot be controlled, as far as we know."

"So, you're saying that Claire can see through time?" Dante asked

"In a way, yes." Phantom replied.

"Well, that's... Interesting..." Vergil said.

 _Why is it that a normal human girl can have essentially super-foresight, but a demon can't?_

 _You're not a full demon, Verge. And Claire's technically not a human. You're both Pokémon now._

"You said you had more, Chris?" Dante asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah. Vergil? Can I talk to you privately for a second?" He asked, pulling Vergil in behind the Team Base by the arm.

"Hayden wanted me to ask you something. He and Charmander both told me that you claimed to have some previous reletionship with Dante, right? So, why don't you just tell him?"

"Well, for one thing, I don't know everything. I never knew he had a daughter, for example."

"How?"

"I was dead! How else could I have not known? If I had lived to tell some tales, I could have been told of that!"

"I thought death would take you to an afterlife. In that afterlife, you could still watch over your living loved ones."

"For me, this is the afterlife. And what about Claire? Isn't this the afterlife for her, too? How many of us could be dead, without even knowing it, and this is the afterlife?"

"How do you expect me to know that?"

"How do you expect me to know everything about Dante, Chris?! I died before he could even tell me he had a daughter, let alone what could've happened before that! For all I know, that 'Lust' character could have been that woman he got all busied up with to have her!"

"... Vergil..."

"For all I know, Dante could have been sent here to die! For all I know, this is all a dream, and I'll wake up covered in blood and slashes!"

"Vergil, relax! I get it!" Chris shouted.

"You're telling me to relax? Look at yourself!"

"Um, hello? Is everything okay back there?" Patty's voice was heard interrupted their "rational conversation".

"Oh! Uh, sorry, Patty!" Chris amended, before turning to Vergil.

"This isn't over, I'm assuming?"

"Right..."

x-x-x

Dark stepped out of the underbrush, in full view of his rather unwanted visitors.

"Hello there. You must be Blade." He said to a Scyther, before turning his attention to a Combusken. "Fetish."

"Hello there, Master Dark." Blade responded, while Fetish remained completely silent.

"I'm assuming that Banshee has sent you here?"

"Yes. Mistress Banshee hoped you wouldn't be a deserter like Frost and Shadow have become."

"Oh, come now, Blade! Have more faith in me than that!"

"Ah. Of course, Master Dark. Mistress Banshee was hoping she could discuss something with you."

"And what would that be?"

"Mistress Banshee would like to allow Shadow and Frost to reconsider their choices. Master Vortex has also approved of this." Fetish now spoke.

"You expect me to find them and tell them that? You expect them to believe that?"

"Oh, no, not at all! We're saying that we want them to come with us. You see, Master Vortex wants them to be more than just Rangers. He wants to bump them up to Admiral levels. He's told us that they deserve more than what he's given them."

"So, Master Vortex wants some traitors to rejoin us? Hm..." Dark's remaining ally mumbled from within the underbrush.

"Ah, yes. Where is Elite Banshee to confirm all of this?"

"Erm... Well... Sh-she had some... Business to attend to! Yes, yes, business..." Fetish stammered.

"What kind of 'business'?"

"M-Master... Master Hokori requested that she help him with something! Yes, Master Hokori! A-And Master Rictus!"

"Admirals Hokori and Rictus? _They_ wanted help from _her_?!" Dark burst out laughing. Blade took this as a sign to run, leaving Fetish to his own devices.

Blade dared not to look back at the sight. Fetish had just went for Dark's throat, latching his claws to the Houndoom's sides. He saw that and nothing more. He flew as fast as his wings would allow, closed his eyes, and mentally screamed. He feared the attention he would get if he did so out loud. He checked his bag to see if there was anything left to help him through this dungeon.

 _An Escape Orb!_

Without a second thought, he slammed the Orb to the ground. He gasped at the sudden shock that filled him, and then there was darkness.


End file.
